1. Field
This invention pertains to beekeeping and is particularly directed to an improved device and method for feeding bees within conventional apiary hives.
2. State of the Art
It has long been recognized that the productivity of a hive of bees bears a direct correlation to the population of the hive at the time nectar is available for gathering in the spring. Ordinarily, a bee colony controls its population in response to natural stimuli which inform the colony that it must either reduce population to conserve available food or increase its population to gather nectar from the surrounding fields. This population control is effected by the worker bees' reducing their brood rearing activities.
In nature, a bee colony will build up to full strength during the first portion of the honey flow (the period during which nectar is available for gathering) because it is during this period that food for the hive is available in abundance. The colony is relieved during this period from the necessity for sustaining itself from stored quantities of food. Skilled apiarists have thus developed techniques for "persuading" a colony that the honey flow is starting before the event so that the colony is artificially induced to increase its population substantially earlier than would otherwise be the case. In this fashion, a much greater number of worker bees is available to gather nectar from the fields when the honey flow commences.
Approximately three weeks are required from the laying of an egg by the queen bee to the development of a young worker bee, and approximately two additional weeks are required before the newly hatched worker bees are prepared to function as field bees. Accordingly, it is important from the standpoint of the productivity of the apiary to "convince" the colony that a honey flow is commencing at least several weeks prior to the anticipated event.
The technique which has developed for indicating the arrival of spring (or the commencement of a honey flow), involves feeding the colony. In practice, food, typically a simple sugar syrup, is offered to the worker bees within the hive, and those bees commence to gather and store this food in the storage section of the hive much as they would had they gathered nectar from the field. This activity serves the function of stimulating the hive to increase its brood rearing activities and serves the equally important function of maintaining morale within the hive so that the colony desires to gather the crop rather than to either swarm or rear a new queen. Swarming, or division of the colony through the rearing of a new queen, is stimulated in nature under circumstances where the colony believes food or nectar to be scarce. A disorganized or divided colony results in loss of harvest due to the distraction of the workers.
It is generally considered preferable to offer a sugar preparation such as fudge or syrup to the hive rather than raw honey from another hive. Such preparations avoid possible contamination by diseases carried by the alien honey. A number of feeding devices have been devised for this purpose, each of which has certain attendant disadvantages.
Examples of previous efforts at feeding a colony of bees may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 14,168; 821,246; 1,607,659; 2,193,741; and 2,567,871. An important negative aspect common to previous feeder devices adapted for location within the hive has been the necessity for disassembling portions of the hive in order to fill the feeder. It is fundamental in beekeeping, that the colony should be disturbed as little as possible, particularly during periods of severe winter temperatures. Moreover, introducing feed to the feeders known to the art is generally cumbersome and permits the attraction of robber bees. The use of a reservoir of feed located outside the hive, while avoiding the disturbance referred to hereinbefore, is especially disadvantageous from the standpoint of attracting robber bees or other pests.